Pass XS-150's
- Thread starter rockitman
- Start date
That's a bummer! Did it just start? I'm good so far but mine aren't even fully broken in yet.
Did you talk to anyone at Pass with an idea of what the problem might be?
Not the kind of equipment that's easy to pack up and ship either.
Let me know how it turns out. I'm sure they'll turn them around fast.
They read WBF. I emailed a question regarding stand by current to tech support and he said they had seen the pictures of my system that I posted here a couple of weeks ago. His name is Kent English. Seemed like a nice guy.
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I have noticed it at turn on for a week or so. I'm betting it's a bad MOSFET or JFET somewhere in the chain. The worse part is moving and packing them up again. I was real bummed for about 15 mins, but life goes on. It will be interesting to hear my old Mark Levinson amp again.
Also keep in mind, the MOSFET output devices are NOS and out of production. Pass bought the entire remaining stock from the supplier to service these amp well into the future.
Christian, any new photos to post here or on Audiogon? I read that Pass doesn't even have a repair department because so few of there amps have ever needed repair. Of course, that doesn't help you now, but at least you have something else to hear and to remind you how awesome the new amps are. I wish my XA160.5 had the on/off switch for the blue meter light. I find it too bright late at night when I listen with the lights off. I place a piece of cardboard over the meter for total blackout. How much hotter would you say the XS is than your old XA100.5? Thanks.
The meters on the XS are lit by white led's with the single blue led to signify power up. Never liked the blue meter on the XA amps. The white is more tasteful in my opinion.
When I had the xa100.5 in my room for a couple of months, I never even noticed the heat. I would say temp in my room rises 7-10 degrees with the XS300 amps on for a for a few hours. Definitely noticeable.
Good luck...it'll be great to have them back and hopefully it'll happen in no time.
So I think I'm going to hold off sending the amp in. The very quiet tube sputter sound only lasts 15 seconds on average and it goes away on intial startup. My ear needs to be within 12" to hear it. What I thought I heard during lp playback may have been a record crackle and not the amp. My dealer and Pass are now aware of the issue and I will be following up with him tomorrow. At this point, if this is the only thing happening, perhaps I should wait to see if the issue persists or worsens before going through the magnanimous effort required to send them back.
Oh and did I mention these amps sound glorious ? The noise floor is so low, you ear needs to be withing 3 inches of the midrange to hear them when they are powered up at full bias. The details that I am now hearing makes me think I'm listening to different versions of very familiar music. Bass extension and articulation are impeccable.
Oh and did I mention these amps sound glorious ? The noise floor is so low, you ear needs to be withing 3 inches of the midrange to hear them when they are powered up at full bias. The details that I am now hearing makes me think I'm listening to different versions of very familiar music. Bass extension and articulation are impeccable.
I haven't heard anything unusual out of mine. I'll let you know if I do.
I've got 5 new power cords in the system that are taking an eternity to break in. I think I'm almost there though.
Can't blame you for not wanting to move those monsters. Good luck. Hope you don't have to send them back.
So there was a conversation about my L channel amp anomaly on startup with Nelson Pass. As long as it doesn't continue after startup and is of short duration, it is most likely something in the front end stablizing (and making the light tube sputter sound) during full power up off of standby. As I said, this lasts at most 20 seconds and is inaudible with the ear away from the speaker by about 20". So at this point, the amps are not going back. If the anomaly changes in duration or starts to effect operation while listening to music, then it will go back. So for now, it's happy listening. Mark at RenoHiFi is top notch with his service and if anything goes wrong, it will be taken care of. I have no doubt of this service commitment.
could be....as the other amp goes right on instantly (no momentary muting going on) and the noise floor can be heard with your ear next to the midrange driver The preamp volume is on zero when I start up. I even changed the channel orientation and the sound still came out of the left channel amp, so no upstream issues.
The bad news...the problem...spit and sputter in the left channel is now happening during listening, not just during startup/warm up (intermittently ). The amps must go back.
The great news...Mark at Reno is sending me out another pair in exchange. I will not have to wait for a repair. Talk about first class service in spades !
The great news...Mark at Reno is sending me out another pair in exchange. I will not have to wait for a repair. Talk about first class service in spades !
Mark at Reno HiFi is a stand up guy. He goes above and beyond to make his customers happy. Congratulations!
Christian-I am so happy for you. That is awesome that Mark is taking care of you and it's cool that you are letting everyone know he is a standup guy. I know it's still a pain that you have to pack the other amps up and send them off as well as getting the new ones into your room, but at least you don't have to wait.
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